Freon-113 is one of the solvents used to brush away the silicone coating on printed circuit boards being cleaned and repaired. Extreme care must be taken in working with Freon-113, since it is toxic to the worker, harmful to the ozone layer, it evaporates quickly, it is expensive, and is irreplaceable.
Thus, it is desirable to recover as much as possible of the Freon-113 which is used. In the past, paraffin wax has been used to recover the freon by absorbing it. However, paraffin has a slow rate of absorption due to its small surface area and does not recover all of the freon. In addition, carbon filters and coal have been used to recover the freon by adsorbing it. Still further, ion exchange resins have been used to recover the freon. However, no system has been developed to recover a large percentage of or substantially all of the freon or other solvents used for cleaning and repairing workpieces.
In addition, when the freon or solvent is applied, a lot is wasted. Typically, a paint brush is used to apply the solvent to small areas of the circuit boards or workpieces. However, this procedure is wasteful and inefficient. In addition, when workers use this procedure, because of the repetitive wrist movement used in cleaning, they have a tendency to develop carpal tunnel injury syndrome.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recovery workstation that substantially reduces the amount of freon or other solvent used and recaptures substantially all of it, in addition to increasing production by at least 50%.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a freon recovery workstation, which prevents toxic harm to the workers in the workplace and which prevents harm to the ozone layer, in addition to providing an efficient and economical system in which substantially all of the expensive freon is recovered for reuse.
It is a still further object of the present invention to recover the freon or other solvent even after it has evaporated and becomes a vapor, so that harmful vapors are eliminated from the workplace and the atmosphere.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a hand tool for economically and efficiently applying the freon or other solvent to the workpiece being cleaned by precisely aiming it and regulating its usage and which reduces the tendency of workers to develop carpal tunnel injury syndrome.